someone to spike Bean’s whiskey barrel
with kerosene. The next day, one taste
sent Bean’s customers away, and he
relocated to Langtry. He and Charlie
remained friends, but always at arm’s
length. They continually bested each
other in a series of pranks and deals. It
also earned Sanderson the name, “The
town too mean for Bean.”
In an early article entitled “A Very
Deer Experience” from the San Antonio
Daily Light, February 6, 1886, the writer
reports on a visit Charlie made to the
city. He is characterized as “having
lived on the edge, and sometimes a bit
over the edge of civilization for years,”
and that he had “met and vanquished
the wild and wooly bear, the fierce
catamount, voracious wolf, and times
without end had settled scores with the
treacherous and murderous Comanche
and Apache Indians.” He had come to
town to “see the sights and get polished
up a little so as to cut out hated rivals in
affairs of the heart.” He and a friend
went to see the newly improved San
Pedro Park and chanced upon the deer
pen with the gate open. He went inside
to “while away a few moments fondling
with those meek and timid creatures.”
Suddenly, a young buck took offense
and jumped him, knocking him to the
ground and severely pummeling him
with his sharp hooves. Poor Charlie’s
brand new suit was reduced to rags and
the buck “began operations as a
sausage factory.” Charlie’s friend man-
aged to pull him to safety and they beat
a hasty retreat. The paper reported,
“This morning he is about, smiling, but
limping, and said that it was the ‘deer-
est’ experience he had ever had and
that the San-tone ‘deers’ are altogether
too belligerent for him, and that he will
return to Sanderson, where there is not
a woman within a hundred miles. He
has had enough coming to San-tone to
mash the girls.” Obviously Charlie had
a great sense of humor.
About 1902, Charlie built the wood
and adobe Terrell Hotel just north of
the depot. Another long adobe build-
ing just north of that served as a hotel
previously, but he tied the two together
eggs and meat at the restaurant, and
one day, Charlie acquired a pet coyote
for his saloon, just across the street. He
set a trail of corn kernels from the free-
range chickens to his bar, and when the
chickens followed the trail, it led to his
chained coyote, which promptly
Cyrus “Charlie” M. Wilson, Alexander Watkins Terrell, Texas Legislator for whom the county was
named, Joe Kerr, Sr., and W.P. Watkins. 1905
into one big operation. For years
Chinese gentlemen ran the hotel, and
the building behind was used as their
restaurant. Humorous stories from
that period recount the Chinese and
their cooking and management abili-
ties. The Chinese kept chickens for the
snatched them up and had a feast.
Charlie bragged about not having to
buy feed for his pet, but one day the
Chinese restaurant manager brought
over a bill for the missing chickens.
Charlie paid up, and the bar patrons
hooted that he had gotten caught.
Uncle Charlie, as the locals loved to
call him, was a shrewd businessman
and an inveterate gambler. But the big
Irishman, a confirmed lifelong bache-
lor, had a heart of gold and a soft spot
in his heart for children. As his town
grew he built public buildings and
donated property for the new county
courthouse and several churches. He
was also a breeder of pug dogs. When a
child was born he sometimes gave the
newborn a town lot and a puppy for a
birth gift. Generous and outgoing, nev-
ertheless he always had a deal going,
and not always scrupulously legal.
In 1906 Charlie sold 90 percent of
his holdings in Sanderson and the area,
and he moved to El Paso. He wanted
to move on to Cuba, but old age caught
up with him. While in El Paso in 1908,
he became ill and was sent to the Home
for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in
Santa Monica, California. As his
health problems grew worse, he lost a
foot to gangrene. Three weeks later he
died, on August 25, 1912. Charlie was
laid to rest with honor at what became
the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
And, for all the wheeling and dealing
and profit-taking he had done in his
life, his final estate was valued at $2.30,
little more than the change in his pock-
et or perhaps the liquidation of his per-
sonal items at the Home.
Charlie Wilson was a man who
exemplified the entrepreneurial spirit
of West Texas. Coming to the area
during an extremely dangerous period,
he carved out a niche for himself and a
whole community. Considering the
love and admiration which was univer-
sally bestowed upon him, it is no exag-
geration to characterize him as the
“Father of Sanderson and Terrell
County, Texas.” And, here it is, a hun-
dred years later, and he is still the topic
of conversation.
Christina’s World
Folk Art • Jewelry from Around the World
Local Artisans • Fossils
Large Day of the Dead Collection
“Beauty is Critical”
The Boardwalk, Lajitas
Open daily 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2016
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